BUYING IN(ISBN=) 英文原版

“Fascinating … A compelling blend of cultural anthropology and
business journalism.” — Andrea Sachs, Time
Magazine

“An often startling tour of new cultural terrain.” — Laura
Miller, Salon

“Marked by meticulous research and careful conclusions, this
superbly readable book confirms New York Times journalist
Walker as an expert on consumerism. … [A] thoughtful and unhurried
investigation into consumerism that pushes the analysis to the
maximum…” — Publisher’s Weekly (starred
review)

Brands are dead. Advertising no longer works. Weaned on TiVo, the
Internet, and other emerging technologies, the short-attention-span
generation has become immune to marketing. Consumers are “in
control.” Or so we’re told.
In Buying In, New York Times Magazine “Consumed”
columnist Rob Walker argues that this accepted wisdom misses a much
more important and lasting cultural shift. As technology has
created avenues for advertising anywhere and everywhere, people are
embracing brands more than ever before–creating brands of their own
and participating in marketing campaigns for their favorite brands
in unprecedented ways. Increasingly, motivated consumers are
pitching in to spread the gospel virally, whether by creating
Internet video ads for Converse All Stars or becoming word-of-mouth
“agents” touting products to friends and family on behalf of huge
corporations. In the process, they–we–have begun to funnel
cultural, political, and community activities through connections
with brands.

Walker explores this changing cultural landscape–including a
practice he calls “murketing,” blending the terms murky and
marketing–by introducing us to the creative marketers,
entrepreneurs, artists, and community organizers who have found a
way to thrive within it. Using profiles of brands old and new,
including Timberland, American Apparel, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Red
Bull, iPod, and Livestrong, Walker demonstrates the ways in which
buyers adopt products, not just as consumer choices, but as
conscious expressions of their identities.

Part marketing primer, part work of cultural anthropology,
Buying In reveals why now, more than ever, we are what we
buy–and vice versa.

Praise for Buying
In
“Walker … makes a startling claim: Far from
being immune to advertising, as many people think, American
consumers are increasingly active participants in the marketing
process. … [He] leads readers through a series of lucid case
studies to demonstrate that, in many cases, consumers actively
participate in infusing a brand with meaning. … Convincing.” —
Jay Dixit, The Washington Post

“Walker lays out his theory in well-written, entertaining detail.”
— Seth Stevenson, Slate

“Buying In delves into the attitudes of the global consumer
in the age of plenty, and, well, we aren’t too pretty. Walker
carries the reader on a frenetically paced tour of senseless
consumption spanning from Viking ranges to custom high-tops.” —
Robert Blinn, Core77

“Rob Walker is one smart shopper.” — Jen Trolio,
ReadyMade

“The most
trenchant psychoanalyst of our consumer selves is Rob Walker. This
is a fresh and fascinating exploration of the places where material
culture and identity intersect.”
–Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food

“This book has vast social implications, far beyond the fields of
marketing and branding. It obliterates our old paradigm of
companies (the bad guys) corrupting our children (the innocents)
via commercials. In this new world, media-literate young people
freely and willingly co-opt the brands, and most companies are
clueless bystanders desperate to keep up. I really don’t know if
this is good news or bad news, but I can say, with certainty, that
this book is a must-read.”
–Po Bronson, author of What Should I Do with My
Life?

“Rob Walker is a gift. He shows that in our shattered, scattered
world, powerful brands are existential, insinuating themselves into
the human questions ‘What am I about?’ and ‘How do I connect?’ His
insight that brand influence is becoming both more pervasive and
more hidden–that we are not so self-defined as we like to
think–should make us disturbed, and vigilant.”
–Jim Collins, author of Good to Great

“Rob Walker is a terrific writer who understands both human
nature and the business world. His book is highly entertaining, but
it’s also a deeply thoughtful look at the ways in which marketing
meets the modern psyche.”
–Bethany McLean, editor at large, Fortune, and co-author
of The Smartest Guys in the Room

“Are we living in an era of YouTube-empowered, brand-rejecting
consumers? Rob Walker has the surprising answers, and you won’t
want to miss this joyride through the front lines of consumer
culture. A marketing must-read.”
–Chip Heath and Dan Heath, authors of Made to
Stick

“Rob Walker brilliantly deconstructs the religion of consumption.
Love his column, couldn’t put his book down.”
–Paco Underhill, author of Why We Buy

Rob Walker writes the weekly column “Consumed,” a blend of
business journalism and cultural anthropology, for The New York
Times Magazine. Previously, he created and wrote the popular
“Ad Report Card” column for Slate, and he has contributed to
a wide range of publications, from Fast Company and
Fortune to The New Republic and AdBusters.
Walker continues to write about the secret dialogue between what we
buy and who we are at his own website, Murketing.com. He lives in
Savannah, Georgia, with his wife, photographer Ellen Susan.